Donna FloydFollow

Date

8-2018

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Dawn J. Lucas

Keywords

Beginning or Induction Teachers, Mentoring, Mentors, Mentorship Programs, Perception, Teacher Training

Disciplines

Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods | Educational Psychology | Other Education

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to understand the perceptions of participants in St. John’s County School District concerning the effectiveness of the mentorship program in the county. The Theory of Teacher Development (Fuller, 1969; Katz, 1972) guided the research. This theory states the induction programs should follow pre-service preparation, which will reduce the teacher attrition rate. A single case study was chosen so that the mentorship program could be studied using the perceptions of the participants in the program. The two research questions that guided the study is as follows: “What are the beginning teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the mentorship program in St. John’s County School District?” and “What are the participating mentors’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the mentorship program in St. John’s County School District?” The sample size included 15 individuals including beginning teachers and mentors participating in the program. The data for the study was collected using interviews, observations, and journal entries that the participants made during the study, and the examination of documents by me concerning the mentorship program. The setting was 6 schools throughout the district depending on the number of volunteers. Beginning teachers are defined as teachers with 0-2 years’ experience in the district. The mentors were those actively involved in the program who were assisting these beginning teachers. The data was collected at the site where the individuals were employed. The data was analyzed using the Moustakas’ (1994) Phenomenological Methods-coding, categorizing, and making sense of essential meanings of the phenomena.

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